Marketing Strategist

FOR THE PRINTING INDUSTRY

I’ve worked in and partnered with the Printing Industry for more than 40 years.

The Printing Industry is a unique blend of custom manufacturing and business services; of mature and emerging technologies; and of broad, multi-channel marketing opportunities. Expressing your unique blend of value requires broad experience and industry-specific know-how.

If you’re ready to move your printing business forward, I’m ready to apply my experience and know-how to deliver real results.

Marketing Strategist

FOR THE PRINTING INDUSTRY

I’ve worked in and partnered with the Printing Industry for more than 40 years.

The Printing Industry is a unique blend of custom manufacturing and business services; of mature and emerging technologies; and of broad, multi-channel marketing opportunities. Expressing your unique blend of value requires broad experience and industry-specific know-how.

If you’re ready to move your printing business forward, I’m ready to apply my experience and know-how to deliver real results.

The Frustration You Already Know

… AND IT HAPPENS THROUGHOUT OUR INDUSTRY.

  • You want to build a solid pipeline of business but you can’t quite get a handle on the secret sauce your customers love.
  • Your team hustles to develop content, promotions, or videos and yet meaningful engagement remains low.
  • You see dozens of potential tools that can streamline your marketing process, but you just don’t know where to start.

It makes sense that your people know your business best. You’ve probably formed an internal specialty team with top-performing sales and service staff. Unfortunately, when you’re drawing on resources that are already at their max, it’s hard to get an ‘above-and-beyond’ project off the ground. 

This can… and does… slow an otherwise successful business to a crawl. It adds pressure, stress, and missed opportunities. And it doesn’t help your team feel good about their impact.

Let’s Build Demand for Your Business 

… AND LET’S DO IT NOW.

As an outsider to your organization — one who’s been in strategic marketing for decades — I can move you and your team quickly past this pain. My tested methodology taps into your team’s expertise and gets to the root of what sets your brand apart for your best customers. 

… AND HERE’S A HINT:  IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR EQUIPMENT LIST.

As a fractional member of your team, I’ll lead a process to bring your secret sauce to the surface. Together, we’ll develop a strategy, messaging, and a way of working that will delight every new prospect you engage.

The Frustration
You Already Know

AND IT HAPPENS
THROUGHOUT OUR INDUSTRY.

  • You want to build a solid pipeline of business but you can’t quite get a handle on the secret sauce your customers love.
  • Your team hustles to develop content, promotions, or videos and yet meaningful engagement remains low.
  • You see dozens of potential tools that can streamline your marketing process, but you just don’t know where to start.

It makes sense that your people know your business best. You’ve probably formed an internal specialty team with top-performing sales and service staff. Unfortunately, when you’re drawing on resources that are already at their max, it’s hard to get an ‘above-and-beyond’ project off the ground. 

This can… and does… slow an otherwise successful business to a crawl. It adds pressure, stress, and missed opportunities. And it doesn’t help your team feel good about their impact.

Let’s Build Demand for Your Business 

… AND LET’S DO IT NOW.

As an outsider to your organization — one who’s been in strategic marketing for decades — I can move you and your team quickly past this pain. My tested methodology taps into your team’s expertise and gets to the root of what sets your brand apart for your best customers. 

… AND HERE’S A HINT:  IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR EQUIPMENT LIST.

As a fractional member of your team, I’ll lead a process to bring your secret sauce to the surface. Together, we’ll develop a strategy, messaging, and a way of working that will delight every new prospect you engage.

Services

CEO targeting markets with guidance of CMO

Chief Marketing Officer

Role:
Fractional lead marketing partner for your entire business.

Goal:
Connect your long term business goals to a comprehensive marketing strategy.

Timeline:
2 to 3 years, 90-day renewal

Scope:

  • Marketing operations oversight
  • Detailed plan & budgets
  • Extensive staff training and development
  • Hiring staff and/or outside team members
  • External agency oversight
Marketing team creative collaboration

Marketing Director

Role:
Temporary strategic and creative director for a broad marketing initiative

Goal:
Develop and lead creative strategy for a broad marketing initiative.

Timeline:
6 months to 2 years, 90-day renewal

Scope:

  • Establish a mixed external and internal team
  • Strategic plan and budget
  • Staff development and leadership training
Turnkey creative project launch

Project Director

Role:
Creative and strategic lead for one carefully defined project

Goal:
Establish the most efficient and effective path to project completion.

Timeline:
1 to 6 months

Scope:

  • Increase internal and external team capacity 
  • Always, strategic project alignment
  • Execution of a high-quality, high-impact project 

Not sure which service is best for your business… no problem. Let’s schedule a short call to discuss your needs and answer any questions you have.

Some of My Projects

HighNote Renaming & Rebranding

After spending 25 years building a reputation for quality and service, the owners of Allegra Marketing Services, in Louisville, Kentucky, decided to leave their franchise identity behind and rebrand as HighNote.

Here’s the story of how my collaborative team helped them get to the root of their company’s unique value while helping loyal customers remember what it feels like to work with this service-driven team.

GCLI Branding & Promotion

Industry leaders Mike Philie and Joe Truncale asked me to help them develop a name, a brand, and a promotional strategy around their vision for a continuing education program. Their quarterly seminar series, designed specifically for business leaders in the printing industry, became the Graphic Communications Leadership Institute (GCLI).

In addition to branding and promotional strategies, I helped them identify and speak to the goals of two key audiences: small-to-midsize firm owners and the career-focused leaders that those owners wanted to retain and develop.

Impression Paragraph Brand Strategy & Content Marketing

Impression Paragraph, one of Quebec’s premier litho, digital, and package/display printing, asked me to help define their brand and build client/prospect engagement.

We began by exploring customer value and finding a brand visualization that would move them from a technology brand to an experience brand. This helped them align stories and value phrases in French and English that would better connect with a selective audience.

We then moved on to create story concepts, content, and engaging art for their French-first bilingual blog.

Client Endorsements

Joseph P. Truncale, PhD, CAE

Alexander Joseph & Associates, LLC

“Ray is not only an expert in all phases of effective marketing (with a special focus on independently owned businesses) he has a wealth of experience in the printing and graphic communications industry.”

Denise Spalding

President, HighNote, Louisville, KY

“Ray helped us get to the root of the value our customers had come to know – and rave about. He and his team established strategic visual and narrative stories that helped customers trust that we were the same valued friends, but with a new name and look. Ray’s omni-channel communications strategy launched our new identity with excitement and visibility.”

Bob Rosen

R.H. Rosen Associates, LLC

“Beyond his experience in the printing industry and his deep knowledge of marketing tech, Ray has the ability to align the needs of the business, its teams, and its customers in a way that is rewarding to all.”

Martin Lépine

President, Impression Paragraph, Montreal, QB

“Doing business with Ray has been truly enriching for our organization. Ray guided us in clarifying our mission and contributed significantly to providing us with a clear direction in our marketing efforts. Not only did we achieve excellent outcomes in terms of enhancing our company’s visibility within our key markets, but this experience also invigorated our overall business alignment and energized our employees.”

Mike Philie

The Philie Group, LLC

“Ray is an important collaborator for brand development, and go-to-market strategies. He brings big agency experience to help develop messages that matter, and delivers it in a friendly, unassuming manner. I highly recommend Ray to help solve your next communication challenge.”

About Me

My career in printing began when I earned a degree in Printing Management and Sciences from Rochester Institute of Technology. My academic focus on imaging technology, business systems for the graphic arts, and quality control led me toward an immersive experience in commercial printing, workflow design, and pre-press technologies. 

My love for helping customers solve business problems led me pretty quickly into a series of technical service and sales roles with a highly-regarded printing equipment supplier, well-known regional pre-press services company, and a commercial printing and marketing services provider here in the New York Metro area. 

Success in selling is all about aligning with the customer’s perspective. Those years I spent selling printing systems, pre-press services, and commercial printing helped me refine a vital a consultative-selling approach. 

Ray at whiteboard

For me, selling quickly turned into business building as I established and grew several small design, strategic marketing, and service bureau businesses in the 1990s. In the 2000s and 2010s I refocused my work on team building, sales, and relationship building, leading an ad agency team to expand its reach within a range of Fortune-100 businesses. That work required fast adaptation to new communications technologies, attention to evidence-based marketing, and artful courtship of global business leaders. 

In early 2017, I found an opportunity — or maybe it found me — to break out on my own and return to my roots of helping small to midsize printing businesses apply big-business methods to grow their teams, processes, brands, and business success. Today, I help printing owners and print-related consulting groups create strong brands, outstanding customer journeys, and capable marketing teams for the 2020s and beyond. 

Is there a piece of my experience that can bring success to your organization? I’ll bet there is. 

Contact Me

Let's schedule a short call to discuss your needs and answer any questions you have.
 

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